When approaching a potentially dangerous person, a policeman will often draw his handgun for ready use. If the person being approached chooses to either fight or flee, the policeman is protected. This protection is often illusory since many scuffles and chases have resulted in handguns being advertently dropped, lost, or taken from policemen. Not only do many dangerous individuals escape justice when a policeman loses possession of his handgun but, in some cases, they sometimes use wrongfully obtained handguns against their pursuers to inflict serious bodily harm.